Employer jailed 12 weeks for filming maid in toilet

A Canadian man was jailed 12 weeks on Monday (15 May) for filming his maid in a toilet and showering at his house in Singapore.

Paul Kwan, 52, was convicted on two charges of insulting the modesty of his 28-year-old Indonesian maid.

The court heard that Kwan, who is in Singapore on an Employment Pass, was a member of the household which the victim worked in, and the victim had been at the household for some six months.

Kwan had bought a miniature white camera with recording capabilities while he was in Canada on 23 January last year. He brought the camera back to Singapore, where he decided to film the maid in the kitchen toilet, which only she used.

Investigations showed that in July and August last year, Kwan placed the camera on the bottom of a three tiered shelf in the toilet beside the toilet bowl. He used blu-tack to mount the camera on the wall and hide it behind a window scraper. The scraper had a hole which Kwan could fit the camera lens into.

According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Chew Xin Ying, Kwan felt that no one would be able to notice the camera lens by looking at the scraper.

Kwan would then point the camera towards the shower stall and leave it in recording mode. After the maid went to sleep, Kwan would retrieve the footage from the camera by downloading the footage into his hard disk before returning the camera to the same spot in the toilet.

On 30 July 2016, Kwan placed the camera in the toilet and filmed the maid there for 17 minutes and 12 seconds. The video captured her bare buttocks. Later, the video captured her naked from the waist down as the victim stood up from the toilet bowl to wash herself.

The next day, Kwan planted the camera in the toilet again to film the maid showering. The video lasted for 6 minutes and 7 seconds.

The maid discovered the camera while she was cleaning the toilet on 1 August 2016. She spotted the camera mounted onto the wall.

She removed the camera, packed her belongings and headed to a maid agency, where an agent called the police.

Kwan could have been jailed up to one year and/or fined on each charge.